Closing the Knowledge-Application Gap in Organisations through Incentives: Experience from the National Water and Sewerage Corporation in Uganda

Recent decades have seen a steady rise of knowledge and capacity development (KCD) interventions targeting organisations in developing countries. This paper argues that very often the main challenge facing organisations is not the development of knowledge and capacity per se, but their actual use. Drawing on the case of Uganda's National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), we identify and discuss a number of interrelated factors (internal and external) that have allowed the utility to turn its knowledge base into improved performance. We conclude that utilities can close their knowledge-application gap by introducing a corporate culture that motivates staff to apply their knowledge.